CFP: Islamic Civilization in Eastern Africa

CALL FOR PAPERS:
INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE HISTORY OF THE ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION IN EASTERN AFRICA

Zanzibar, Tanzania

3-6 September 2013


OIC
Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), and the
National Records & Archives Authority of the Sultanate of Oman, are jointly
organizing, in cooperation with Zanzibar University, the International
Symposium on the “History of the Islamic Civilization in Eastern Africa”, in
Zanzibar, Tanzania, on 3-6 September 2013.

Africa was the destination of the first Muslim migrants from Mecca to
Abyssinia in Africa. From then on, Muslims immigrations extended to include
the eastern coast of Africa as a point of destination.
Moreover, Muslim Preachers and merchants along with the immigrants reached
to Central Africa.

Along with Northern Africa, Eastern Africa was one of the places which were
most largely influenced by Islamic civilization. The growth of Muslims
immigrations was due to certain reasons. One reason was the geographical
proximity of Eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Another one was the
environment of Africa with its fertile soil, abundant water, moderate
climate and considerable wealth and bounties.

Muslims settled in these regions of Africa and established Islamic dynasties
and states that played active roles in local and international policy due to
their strategic locations. Some of these dynasties and states are Bata,
Mogadishu, Sefalah, Zanzibar and Mombasa. In addition, these dynasties and
states played and still play a pioneering role in spreading Islam in that
part of the world.

Symposium Objectives

The conference is aimed at highlighting various aspects of Islamic civilization in Eastern Africa and promoting the exchange of views and findings of research on the impact of Islamic civilization in the region. This will be done around the following axes:

1 - Reviewing the historical and cultural dimensions of the Islamic civilization in South Asia and East
Africa.

2 - The role and influence of Arab and Muslim migrations on the convergence of the Islamic sects.

3 - The influence of Islamic civilization in the fields of architecture and traditional crafts.

4 – Acquainting with the history of Islamic civilization, in the past and present, and studying its social, economic and political consequences.

5 - Reviewing the geographical aspects that contributed to the spread of the Islamic civilization.

6 - Shedding light on various forms of the intellectual production in East Africa.

7 - The influence of the Islamic civilization on African social life (customs, traditions and daily life areas).

8 - The Arab and Islamic press, and its role in enriching cultural life in Eastern Africa.

9 - Acquainting with the reality of manuscripts, records, archives, and monuments, and identifying the means of
their development.

Conditions of participation:

The submitted research paper shall comply with the following conditions

-It should be authentic, innovative, and directly relevant to the symposium's themes.

-It should not be published or delivered on earlier occasions.

-The abstract of the research paper
should consist of about 250 words and be submitted in both Arabic and
English.

-The research paper should consist of
800 - 1100 words.

-The papers should be sent by email.

-The scientific committee has the right to reject any research paper that does not meet scientific standards.

-
The accepted research papers will be
published after editing in a special booklet for the symposium events. The
organizing body holds the copyrights. Before publication the papers will be
subject to the applicable Publication Law in the Ministry of Information of
the Sultanate of Oman.

Abstracts and research papers should be mailed to:

symposium@nraa.gov.om  

congress@ircica.org



-       Deadline for submitting the abstracts: 15 March 2013.

-       Informing of the acceptance of the abstracts: by 15 April 2013.

-       Deadline for the submission of full papers: 26 June 2013.



Conditions for citations:


The historical narrations should be cited chronologically.

The references should indicate the sources. 

The views and interpretations introduced by the researcher should be based on historical
events and evidences.

The researcher should indicate the sources or the website from which graphics, maps and records
were taken and used or whether they are his own work.

Sources and references must be cited in the footnotes (at the end of every page)
starting with number 1 in each page.

Sources and references must be cited in a list at the end of the paper under the title
"Sources and References" and ordered alphabetically as follow:

title, name, edition, part,
publisher, city of publishing, year of publishing; any further citation
information might be put in parenthesis.

Symposium Languages

Arabic and
English

For complementary information send an
email to
symposium@nraa.gov.om 

congress@ircica.org

Phone: +968 246 16071,

+968 246 16086,

+90 259 1742

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Good Collection of Web Resources on Islam in East Africa

The brother over at Baytul-Hikma has collected a number of helpful internet resources, videos, e-books, and links on Islam in East Africa. Check it out here.

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Mawlid al-Habshi Mambrui, Kenya 2006

More people need to see this! SubhanAllah, so beautiful.

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Khutba from Sheikh 'Abdullah 'Adhami

The following khutba in Swahili is a beautiful expression of the meaning of marriage and the nature of the love that prevails between two people. May Allah make it easy for us to love one another. (thanks to TAMCO)

Kwa kuoa huchukui tu mke, Bali unachukua ulimwengu wako mzima. Kuanzia hapo mpaka maisha yako yote mke wako atakuwa mwenzio, mwandani wako, na rafiki yako mpenzi.

Atashiriki katika nyakati zako nzuri, siku zako, na miaka yako. Atakuwa pamoja nawe katika furaha na shida, katika mafanikio na tabu, katika ndoto zako na katika wakati wa hofu. Ukiumwa, atakupa huduma bora kabisa. Wakati unapohitaji msaada atafanya vyovyote awezavyo kwa ajili yako. Wakati una siri, ataitunza siri yako, wakati unahitaji ushauri, atakupa ushauri mzuri kabisa.

Atakuwa na wewe utakapoamka asubuhi kitu cha kwanza ambacho macho yako yataona ni macho yake. Wakati wa mchana, atakuwa na wewe, kama kuna wakati mchache hatokuwa na wewe kwa kimwili, atakuwa anakufikiria wewe, anakuombea dua kwa moyo wake wote, akili yake yote, na roho yake nyote. Ukienda kulala usiku, kitu cha mwisho macho yako kuona itakuwa ni yeye, na ukilala bado utakuwa unamuona katika ndoto zako. Kwa kifupi atakuwa ni ulimwengu wako mzima na wewe utakuwa ulimwengu wake mzima.

Kielezo bora kabisa ambacho mimi binafsi nishawahi kusoma kinafafanua ukaribu wa wanandoa juu ya wao kwa wao na kielezo hicho kipo katika aya ya Qur-aan ambayo inasema:

((Wao ni vazi kwenu, na nyinyi ni vazi kwao)) [Al-Baqarah 2:187].

Na Kweli, wanandoa ni kama vazi juu ya wao kwa wao kwa sababu wanapeana ulinzi, liwazo, kinga (stara), msaada (tegemeo), na mapambo ambayo vazi linampa mtu. Hebu jaribu kufikiri msafara wakati wa siku za baridi kwenda sehemu kama vile Alaska bila ya kuwa na nguo! Wanandoa wetu wanatupa kiwango kile kile cha faraja (liwazo), ulinzi, na msaada katika msafara wa maisha yetu katika dunia hii kama vile nguo itakavyofanya katika msafara wa Alaska.

Mahusiano baina ya wanandoa ni ya kustaajabisha kabisa katika mahusiano yote ya kibinaadamu: Idadi ya mapenzi na mahaba, undani na ukaribu, huruma na imani, amani na utulivu ambao unajaza nyoyo za wanandoa ni jambo lisiloelezeka kwa wepesi. Ufafanuzi pekee wa mantiki ambao unaweza kuelezeka juu ya haya mastaajabu makubwa katika hisia zote za kibinaadamu ni kwamba: Ni kitendo cha Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, ((Na Mwenyezi Mungu Amekuumbieni wake [na wenza katika jinsi yenu])) [An-Nahl 16:72]

Mola wetu tu Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala katika katika Utawala Wake usio na upeo wa huruma Yake isiyo na mipaka na Hekima Yake adhimu Anaweza kujenga na kuzididimiza katika akili hizi hisia za kustaajabisha na za kubarikiwa katika nyoyo za wanandoa. Kwa kweli Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'aala Anawakumbusha wale ambao wanatafuta ishara Zake katika ulimwengu huu kwamba hisia hizi katika moyo wa wanandoa ni katika ishara Zake ambazo zinatakiwa zimuongoze mwanaadamu katika kuwepo Kwake kama Alivyosema katika Qur-aan, (Na katika Ishara zake ni kuwa Amekuumbieni wake zenu kutokana na nafsi zenu ili mpate utulivu kwao. Naye Amejaalia mapenzi na huruma baina yenu. Hakika katika haya bila ya shaka zipo ishara kwa watu wanaofikiri." [Ar-Ruum 30:21]

Lakini Mwenyezi Mungu Subhanahu Wa Ta’aala Anajua kwamba moyo wa binaadamu sio kitu ambacho kiko tuli, wakati mwengine huwa dhaifu na wakati mwengine huwa na nguvu. Hisia zinaweza kubadilika na hubadilika pindi wakati unavyosogea. Mapenzi yanaweza kufifia na kupayuka mbalini. Mshikamano wa ndoa unaweza kuwa dhaifu kama haujahudumiwa vizuri. Furaha katika ndoa haiwezi kudharauliwa; furaha ya kuendelea inahitaji utowaji wa daima kutoka pande zote. Ili mti wa mapenzi ya ndoa ubaki hai na kuendelea kuishi, udongo lazima udumishwe, uhifadhiwe, umwagiwe maji na ulelewe.

Kumbuka kwamba Mtume wetu Muhammad (Swalla Allaahu 'alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) alipata nafasi ya kwenda kwenye majangwa na kushindana mbio na mke wake Bibi 'Aishah. Bibi 'Aishah alimshinda Mtume lakini baadae aliponenepa, Mtume alimshinda Bibi 'Aishah. Kumbuka kwamba Mtume (Swalla Allaahu 'alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) alimchukua mkewe kwenda kuwatazama vijana wa Ki-Ethiopia wakicheza michezo ya utamaduni wao. Maonyesho ya hisia yanahitajika kuweza kuufanya mshikamano wa ndoa usifanye kutu na kuoza. Kumbuka kwamba utapata thawabu kutoka kwa Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'aala) kwa hisia zozote unazomuonyesha mkeo kama Mtume (Swalla Allaahu 'alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) alivyosema: ((Mmoja wenu atapata thawabu kwa chochote ambacho atafanya ili kutafuta radhi za Mwenyezi Mungu hata kwa tonge analomlisha mkewe))

Kamwe usidharau umuhimu wa vitu vidogo vidogo kama vile kuweka chakula kwenye mdomo wa mkeo, kumfungulia mlango wa gari, na hali kadhalika. Kumbuka kwamba Mtume (Swalla Allaahu 'alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) alikuwa anasogeza goti lake kwa mkewe amkanyage kuweza kumpanda ngamia.

Jaribu kutafuta wakati ili nyote wawili muweze kuswali pamoja. Kuuimarisha uhusiano kati yenu na Allaah (Subhanahu wa Ta'aala) ni hakikisho kubwa kuwa uhusiano wenu wa kindoa utabaki madhubuti. Kuwa na amani kati yenu na Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) daima kutapelekea ndani mwenu kuwa na amani zaidi.

Kumbuka kwamba Mtume (Swalla Allaahu 'alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) aliwapa habari nzuri (aliwabashiria) wanandoa wanaoamka usiku kuswali pamoja. Mtume (Swalla Allaahu 'alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) anamsisitiza mwanandoa anayeamka mwanzo amuamshe mwenzake, japo kummwagia maji katika uso wake.

Daima jaribu uwezavyo kuwa mtu mzuri kwa mkeo kwa njia ya maneno na vitendo. Ongea nae, mchekee, tafuta ushauri wake, muulize juu ya mawazo yake, tumia wakati maalum na yeye na daima kumbuka kwamba Mtume (Swalla Allaahu 'alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) alisema: ((Wabora katika nyinyi ni wale ambao ni wabora kwa wake zao))

Mwishowe, ni kawaida kwa wanandoa kuahidi kuwapenda na kuwaheshimu wanandoa wenziwe mpaka mauti yawatenganishe. Naamini kwamba ahadi hii ni nzuri au ni bora kabisa, lakini haitoshi! Haitoshi kumpenda mkeo tu. Lazima upende anachokipenda pia. amilia yake, anaowapenda yeye uwapende pia. Usiwe kama mwenzangu mmoja ambaye hakufurahiwa kuja kwa wazazi wa mke wake kukaa kwa wiki chache. Alimwambia wazi mkewe “Mimi siwapendi wazazi wako”. Bila ya kusita mkewe alimtazama machoni kwa hasira na kusema, “Na wako pia siwapendi”.

Mapenzi yasiishe na pia tunaamini kuna maisha baada ya mauti ambapo wale ambao walifanya wema katika dunia hii wataungana na wanandoa wenzio ((Ingieni Peponi, nyinyi na wake zenu; mtafurahishwa humo)) [Az-Zukhruf 43:70] Pia wataungana na watoto wao.

Na mfano bora katika mintarafu hii itakuwa ni Mtume (Swalla Allaahu 'alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) ambaye mapenzi yake kwa Bibi Khadiyjah, mkewe aliyeishi naye kwa miaka 25 yalisogea mpaka kwa wale aliowapenda Khadiyjah; mapenzi yake haya yaliendelea hata baada ya kufa Bibi Khadiyjah. Ilikuwa miaka mingi baada ya kifo cha Bibi Khadiyjah na Mtume (Swalla Allaahu 'alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) hakumsahau na kila panapochinjwa mbuzi katika nyumba yake basi hutuma kifurushi kwa familia ya Bibi Khadijah na marafiki zake na kila akihisi kuwa mgeni anayegonga mlango ni Dada ya Khadijah aitwaye Hala, Mtume (Swalla Allaahu 'alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam) alikuwa akiomba huku akisema, “Ewe Mwenyezi Mungu Jaalia awe ni Hala."

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Muslims in Kenya Back Kadhi Courts in New Draft Constitution

Nairobi — Muslim religious leaders on Friday said they were ready to dialogue with Christians on kadhi's courts.

The head of the National Muslim Leaders Forum Abdullahi Abdi, speaking at a press conference at Jamia Mosque in Nairobi, said they meet some of the Christians at the Inter-Religious Council, and would be willing to speak to them on the nature of the courts.

He said Kenyans, will live together after the referendum. "We are at the beginning of campaigns. The winner will take it," he said.

He declared their unanimous support for the draft constitution and launched campaigns to have more Kenyans register as voters."We believe (the draft constitution) has many virtues. We call upon Kenyans to vote 'Yes' in large numbers," the leaders said in a statement read by Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims chairman Prof Abdulghafur El-Busaidy.

At a separate press conference at Parliament Buildings, Dujis MP Aden Duale said Muslims are not backing the proposed constitution merely because it includes kadhi's courts.

Mr Duale said those supporting the proposed laws were especially pleased about the proposed devolution, the bill of rights, resource allocation and the pure presidential system.

The Dujis MP said the debate over the courts is not warranted given that they would be in Kenyan law whether or not the proposed laws are passed.

The constitution was passed by Parliament, but the Catholic Church and some evangelical groups have vowed to fight it because of its provisions on abortion and kadhi's courts.

Christian leaders are also opposed to the retention of kadhi's courts in the proposed constitution under Article 169 and 170, which limit their authority to disputes over personal status, marriage, divorce or inheritance, where all the parties are Muslims and agree to take the case to a Kadhi.Federation of Kenya Employers chairman Patrick Obath also joined the Yes proponents and said at a press conference: "As concerned citizens, we think the constitution should be adopted."The African Parliamentarians Network Against Corruption urged Kenyans to vote for the laws, saying that passing the draft would boost the fight against graft. They said the new laws would establish "strong, transparent, independent and accountable arms of government." They urged Kenyans to read the proposed draft before the referendum.

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Sufis and Scholars of the Sea (book review)

by Rahma Bavelaar. Originally published in Islamica magazine, 2007. Used by permission of the author.

Anne Bang's objective in Sufis and Scholars of the Sea is to explore the history of Islam in the northwest Indian Ocean during the 19th and early 20th century, focusing on the scholarly exchange of ideas between Hadramawt, Yemen, and the East African Coast by looking at the life and works of Ahmed b. Abi Bakr b. Sumayt (1861-1925), the son of a Hadrami immigrant to the Swahili coast and respected scholar and Sufi in the Yemeni and East African intellectual traditions.
Through an empirical study of his travels to and from his ancestral Hadramawt, the family and scholarly links he fored and maintained and his work as a Shafi'i qadi in Zanzibar under the patronage of the British-Omani state, Bang seeks to elucidate several interrelated questions which have as yet received scarce attention in Western scholarship: why did members of the Hadrami tariqa 'Alawiyya become such important exponents of a new, more literate Islam in East Africa? What did they teach and what inspired their teachings? How did they maintain and expand their scholarly network across time and space? Did changes in these networks occur, and if so, why? How did the content of their teachings relate to simultaneous developments in the wider Islamic world? And what was their relationship to the British-Omani colonial authorities in Zanzibar?
The great strength of Scholars of the Sea lies in its convincing use of what are often considered purely "religious" documents, such as scholarly geneaologies (silsilas) and certificates (ijazas), as valuable historical sources that can help elucidate processes of religious change and revival.
Although the overall emphasis of the work is on change, Bang challenges the previously common perspective in Western academia that 19th-century 'neo-Sufism' represented a fundamental break with the classical, supposedly more quietist, mystical tradition of Islam. Her highly detailed description of the historical origins and teachings of the 'Alawiyya brotherhood--which closely follows the 'canonical' version taught within the tariqa itself--she emphasizes the continuity of its theological and spiritual tenets (vested in its members' dual geneaological and spiritual claim to descent from the Prophet), in spite of the far reaching institutionalization of its educational practices in the late 19th century. She also points out the continued centrality of classical mystical and legal writings to 'Alawi education in the Hadramawt and East Africa.
If institutional changes in educational practices were hardly revolutionary in Yemen, they certainly were in East Africa, Bang argues with reference to the 'Alawi scholarly class in Zanzibar, where the Hadrami's emphasis on scriptural Islam and Arabic literacy severely eroded the authority of the Swahili upper class (the Waungwana) and their monopoly, until then, on the primarily oral transmission of Islamic knowledge.
New religious practices, such as public dhikrs (rememembrance) and mawlids, (celebration of the Prophet's birth) which were introduced by the 'Alawis and other new Sufi brotherhoods, greatly widened the general population's opportunities for religious participation but seriously diminished the authority of the Waungwana who had previously monopolized popular religious practices. Bang persuasively argues that new ideas and practices may have radically divergent consequences according to the specific nature of the Muslim community in which they are introduced.
Along the same lines, Bang argues that the association of the 'orthodoxy' with 'Arabness' in the East African context needs to be reconsidered: what were considered highly 'orthodox' devotional practices by the 'Alawi scholars were obviously perceived as highly 'unorthodox' by the Waungwana, who had considered their own mawlid celebrations to be representative of 'proper' Islamic behavior.
Bang's argument for the relativity of such loaded concepts as tradition and reform is further elaborated in her exploration of the influence of modernist and Islamist thought on Hadramawt, and consequently East Africa. Ibn Sumayt's netowrk connected him with scholars in Hadramawt, its diasporas in Mecca, Indonesia and Istanbul, as well as prominent modernist thinkers such as Mohammed 'Abduh and Rashid Rida' in Egypt.
An analysis of the scholarly exchanges taking place through these contacts shows that although modernist thinkers and exponents of the tariqa 'Alawiyya shared a strong interest in social and educational activism (da'wah), their intellectual foundations were entirely different. The activism of the 'Alawiyya in Hadramawt and Zanzibar was primarily and internal development, deriving its inspiration from late 18th-century Hadrami revivalists. It was expressed in the institutionalization of religious education and an increased drive toward da'wah among non-'Alawis and in the countryside, but otherwise remained firmly within the parameters of 'Alawi Sufism. Modernist thought, on the other hand, as expounded by scholars like Mohammed 'Abduh and Rashid Rida--as embraced by a large group of 'Alawi scholars in Indonesia--had its roots in a much more thorough intellectual transformation, formulated in a context of colonial expansion and severely critical of the more esoteric aspects of Islam.
Pointing to examples of educational, agricultural and medical reforms proposed by Ibn Sumayt, challenges overtly static notions of reform, arguing that reform should not be understood as a mere theoretical ideal that is necessarily rooted in ideology (as with the Egyptian reformers) but is primarily about the will to change concrete aspects of society: action which may be rooted in social, political and personal circumstances without implying an intellectual shift. Ibn Sumayt may have shared certain reformist tendencies with modernist thinkers, but this does not mean that he shared their intellectual foundations.
Some critical footnotes may be placed here regarding the theoretical framework in which Bang places reform within the 'Alawiyya tradition which she defines, following previous scholarship, as a shift from the imposition of an external moral code to an internally motivated code for life conduct, i.e. a shift from doctrine to praxis, rather than a shift from apathy to activism. This change of emphasis may circumvent the problematic political implications of the term activism but does nothing to explain why this shift took place, apart from the tenuous implication that previous generations of Muslims did not 'internalize' or 'practice' Islam to the same extent. The well-traveled Hadrami sayyids were doubtlessly aware of the expanding influence of the Western world (an entire generation of Hadramis studied with Zayn ad-Din ad-Dahlan in Mecca, who taught subjects in European History and was a supporter of Ottoman pan-Islamism). Could it be, then, that the expansion of da'wah and popular education had more to do with external influences than Bang concedes to? Could the shift also reflect a new need for self-affirmation in the face of the rapid penetration of foreign and non-Islamic influences into the Muslim heartlands? The consolidation of Sufi tariqas was central to the spread of Islamic teachings among the 'masses' and in many places pursued highly political (often anti-colonial) objectives during the late 19th century, regardless of the non-political nature of their essential teachings.
Furthermore, Bang's conclusion that the shift that took place was not an intellectual one may be premature. The long-term effects of the expansion and institutionalization of education may not have been evident in the early 20th century, but they certainly are today. Unprecedented popular access to religious knowledge has today led to radical shifts in the distribution of religious authority and increasingly eclectic attitudes towards Islamic knowledge. Many other drastic changes on the local and global level have obviously played a role in the increasing 'democratization' of religious knowledge, but expanded access to Islamic education from the late 19th century, as exemplified by the ribats in Hadramawt, certainly formed part of the groundwork for future shifts of a more intellectual nature.
Nonetheless, Bang's research presents powerful illustrations of the complex and intricate dialectics of political social and intellectual developments.
The example of Ibn Sumayt, who was utterly steeped in Hadrami scholarly and Sufi tradition but did not hesitate to ask legal advice from Mohammed 'Abduh, promoted the translation of the Qur'an into Swahili and shared the judge's bench with Ibadhi scholars, shows the infinite complexity of the modes of intellectual evolution across space and time and poses a powerful rebuttal to those who would like to compartmentalize Islamic thought and practice according to sharply defined ideological categories.
Overall, the themes raised in Sufis and Scholars of the Sea offer many leads for future inquiry. In the 20th century the revolutionary expansion of modern communication technology and mass media have both empowered and fragmented religious discourse, generally undermining the traditional authority of scholarly classes such as the 'Alawis. Yet new technological tools also present entirely new avenues for the propagation of their 'brand' of Islam. In fact, the tariqa 'Alawiyya seems to have greatly expanded its global network since the early 20th c., growing branches into European and American Muslim communities as well as building a considerable presence in Islamic broadcasting and cyberspace. Many of the questions posed by Anne Bang can be newly asked about the continued role of the 'Alawiyya in the modern world: How have the networks described in Sufis and Scholars of the Sea evolved and changed since the early 20th century? What have been the effects of modern communication technology, mass media, and new global audiences on the content of 'Alawi teachings and the methods of its transmission (da'wah)? How is 'Alawi Sufism indigenized (as it once was in East Africa) in the Western world, where its discourse is now informing new Muslim identities, political opinions, and ideas about what constitutes normative Islamic 'tradition'?
To conclude, Sufis and Scholars of the Sea offers all that is expected from an historical study of intellectual history: profound knowledge of the classical canon of Islamic scholarship, highly relevant research questions, and thorough engagement with pertinent theoretical approaches to Sufism. It certainly deserves attention from scholars and laymen alike.

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Maulid in Mombasa 2010

thanks to Suad for the pics....

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An-Nuur (Islam in Tanzania web resource)

If you are ever in Dar or Zanzibar, you can find the print version of An-Nuur, but here is an interesting collection of articles in English and Kiswahili on Islam, Islamic reform in Africa, the Zanzibar revolution.

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Islam in Nineteenth-Century Wallo, Ethiopia (Book Review)

In this impressively published tome from Brill Press, Hussein Ahmed has taken on some of the original assumptions of scholars of Ethiopian Islam such as J.S. Trimingham and tested them against a detailed study of the highland region of Wallo, Ethiopia. Ahmed argues, among other things, that Trimingham's model of conversion, in which converts essentially adopt the outward signs of Islam without practicing it or comprehending its doctrine, is inadequate to account for the diversity of ways in which the Islamic message was propopagated in central Ethiopia. Ahmed also argues for a greater role for the ulama in spreading Islam, working in concert with traders and merchants.

Ahmed does a superb job handling some difficult material, and the book is well written, if at times aimed at the specialist rather than the general reader. Of special interest is Ahmed's biographies of the major Sufi sheikhs of Ethiopia. Accounting for Sufism's popularity and importance, Ahmed emphasizes the account of one of Sheikh Muhammad Taj al-Din, who observed:

"the tariqa teachers, while recognizing the importance of academic excellence, also emphasized the obligation of carrying out one's religious duties as laid down in the Qur'an and the Sunna. They argued that instead of studying exotic and prestigious subjects, a Muslim must recite the dhikr, read the Qur'an and perform the intercessory prayers. A believer must submit his entire body and mind to the rigours of intense reflection and meditation in order to demonstrate his submission to the will of God. They also instilled in the minds of the affiliates a profound sense of brotherhood and communal lifestyle...one of the factors for the success of the mystical orders was the tact and skill with which their local propagators were able to introduce and establish them, and their recognition of the deep roots and persistence of traditional values and customs."

Wallo is unique precisely because it stands at a geographical and political crossroads between faiths and peoples. Wallo became a center of Oromo migration in the last quarter of the sixteenth century. For the Oromo, According to Ahmed, Islam played an important role historically for the Oromo, helping them to shape their identity vis-a-vis Amharic nationalism. However, this point goes largely unexplored.
If I have one critique of the book I felt Dr. Ahmed missed a chance to compare and contrast the impact and development of Christianity and Islam and their attitudes toward each other in theoretical terms.There is some great material in Chapter Six on this point, but it is confined to a discussion of the mid-nineteenth century and the attempts by the Christian emperors Tewodoros II and Yohannes IV to subdue Wallo.

If you are interested in more contemporary issues of Islam in Ethiopia and Muslim Ethiopians, here is a website for Ethiopian Muslims in Europe. If you click through there is a biography of Shaykh Talha bin Ja'afar, one of the principal figures, who waged an armed struggle against the armies of emperor Yohannes and did much to propogate Islam in Wallo.

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Rights, the law and religion: Islamic courts in East Africa

In Tanzania too there has been a raging debate over the introduction of the Kadhi’s courts in the legal and judicial system. Like in Kenya, the most vocal and visible opposition against Kadhi’s courts assumes a religious character, with the church being at the forefront of those most hostile to its introduction. But the motion to reinstate Kadhi’s Courts in Tanzania was first introduced by an opposition leader, the Honourable Lyatonga Mrema of the Tanzania Labour Party (TLP), undoubtedly as a political strategy to win Muslim support in the 2005 General Elections. The ruling party is said to have appropriated the motion, turning it into a campaign pledge to make the same a reality in exchange for the Muslim vote. Not surprisingly, as the 2010 elections loom, the issue is gaining renewed vigour.

Religious forces have kept the matter very much alive in various spaces, including pulpits, newspapers and blogs, intensifying the pressure on the government to concede on the issue. Using a variety of advocacy channels, some Islamic bodies institutions have embarked on a media advocacy strategy aimed at consolidating Muslim opinion over the introduction of the Kadhi’s court. Dismissive remarks by the Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda during the 2009 budget session on the issue of the Kadhi elicited a harsh reaction from Muslim quarters. To appease the situation, the chief mufti, Sheikh Shaaban Simba, formed a committee to advise and negotiate with the government over the matter. In response, the prime minister also formed a committee to engage with the Muslim Council.

Concrete proposals to introduce Kadhi’s courts failed to come up during the recently concluded parliamentary session in November. In the meantime, the government has directed the Law Reform Commission to collect views and make recommendations on the matter. Women’s voices are noticeably absent from the discussions. From available reports, there is no female representation on this crucial body, advising on the most intimate aspect of family and social relationships.

This absence of women’s interest in the ongoing discussion is not only a physical absence but also an absence of gender considerations in the overall content of the proposals in substance. Largely, the voices of women have been sidelined or muffled by political forces informing the debate. Yet, it is they who stand to loose the most from what is being proposed. Indeed, the overwhelming interest in Kadhi’s courts does not seem to be a preoccupation of Muslim women, but of sections of the Muslim community who seek political advantage both from political parties and in the larger community. Otherwise, it consumes most those sections of the community who stand to benefit the most from the existence of Kadhi’s courts.

Pambazuka - Rights, the law and religion: Islamic courts in East Africa

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Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah

Paradise is a little book about a boy named Yusuf who grows into manhood in East Africa. As a coming of age story it is remarkably simple and straightforward, but the way in which Abdulrazak Gurnah illuminates the tremendous historical changes sweeping around Yusuf, and does so while still maintaining the narrative integrity of his man-child protagonist, is simply breathtaking.

Yusuf starts out in a provincial town in the East African interior, the son of a poor hotel owner. He is mortgaged by his father to pay his deepening debt to a man Yusuf knows only as Uncle Aziz. Yusuf travels in the care of Uncle Aziz to the coast, where he befriends Khalil, another debt-slave whose has secrets Yusuf will eventually discover.

Yusuf is an exceptionally beautiful boy and a very sensitive observer who cries at visions he sees in his dreams. His journeys in Paradise mirror two processes which bound the interiors of Eastern Africa to the Western Indian Ocean--one a process of the migration (often via slavery) and subsequent Islamization of upcountry Africans, and the other a venturing into the interior as far as Eastern Congo by armed bands of Swahili-Arab traders.

Gurnah's description of life on the caravan road is illuminative and he vividly portrays the 'utani' relationship of sly joking and storytelling by which the porters structured the monotony of the march. He also gives one of the richest explorations (through dialogue) of the fantastic dimensions of East African Islamic mythology, in which the 'washenzi' lurk in the lands of Gog and Magog waiting to destroy the believers and dragons, birds, jinns, and ghosts all inhabit a universe in intimate interaction with humans. Finally in the background are the Germans, a brooding silent foreboding force who everyone around Yusuf speaks of with trepidation, and who intervene at a key point in the novel. Gurnah accurately captures the ambigous status of Yusuf as grows up on the eve of European colonial rule, and searches for a way out of his dependency. His unexpected decision ends the book abruptly, almost breathlessly, but somehow completely appropriately. In this single last sentence, Gurnah has somehow captured what Jonathan Glassman calls "the contradictory dimensions of slave resistance," the moral dilemma through which Yusuf will shape an independent destiny for himself. Paradise more than lives up to his name and will offer students of East African history and literature a beautiful and compelling read.

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African Islam in Tanzania (excerpt)

More materials towards a historical understanding of Islam in Tanzania. Please click the title to be taken to the full article. The latest book from Felicitas Becker called Being Muslim In Mainland Tanzania is the latest scholarly entry I know of to take up the topic of Islam and Muslims in Tanzania. We hope to review that book here in the future.

African Islam in Tanzania
By Abdulaziz Y. Lodhi and David Westerlund (March 1997)

Islam in society
Mainly on account of the leading role of the Catholic president Julius Nyerere several Western researchers have underestimated the importance of the Moslems in shaping the Tanzanian socialism in the 1960's. Because of the Christians having better access to higher education they became overrepresented in the administration. But Moslems constituted a majority in TANU, called CCM (Chama cha Mapinduzi = The Revolutionary Party) after the 1977 merger with its sister party ASP (Afro-Shirazi Party) on Zanzibar. After the introduction of the one-party system, CCM was the major political factor in societal change. The socialism of Tanzania has many similarities with Islamic Socialism, and especially Nasserism influenced many Moslems in Tanzania.

The few Moslems who turned against the socialist politics were mostly of Asian origin. Some of the Moslem resistance was in the beginning channeled through the East African Muslim Welfare Society (EAMWS). It was founded in Mombasa in 1945 by the then Aga Khan with the aim of promoting Islam and raising the standard of living for the East African Moslems. Asian Shiites, especially Ismaili, dominated and financed the organisation, but Aga Khan recommended that all Moslems regard EAMWS as an organization with pan-Islamic ambitions. When its headquarters were moved from Mombasa to Daressalaam in 1961, the Nyamwezi chief and TANU opponent Abdallah Fundikira, regarded as Nyerere's principal political rival in the 60's, became the president of the organization. EAMWS concentrated on building schools and mosques, providing scholarships and spreading literature. There were also plans for founding an Islamic university in Zanzibar or Mombasa, but they were never realized. However, the Muslim Academy founded in Zanzibar in early 50s continued to exist as a training college for teachers of Arabic and Islamic education until it was closed down by the autonomous Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar in 1966. In regard to this it is interesting to note that Zanzibar has several times since January 1993 announced plans for a separate Islamic university and high schools connected to the University of Daressalaam; and since the middle of the 70s the Muslim Academy has been reopened, a new Muslim Secondary School has been built and Arabic has been adopted as the third official language of Zanzibar.

Because of the pan-Islamic tendencies and the capitalist oriented leadership of EAMWS, pro-TANU Moslems opposed it. The organization, it was claimed, constituted a threat to the ruling party. The antagonism culminated in 1968, when the organization was declared illegal in Tanzania. Other Moslem organizations were dissolved as well. Instead the pro-TANU Moslems, with several leading Qadiriyya sheikhs playing important roles, formed with the support of TANU the new national organization Baraza Kuu la Waislam wa Tanzania (Tanzania Muslim Council), BAKWATA, whose constitution was in large parts a copy of the TANU constitution. Because of the close connection to the ruling party and many leading Moslem politicians' interference in BAKWATA's activities, the role of the organization has been controversial. Its achievements have been limited due to poor finances. Criticism against BAKWATA increased during the 1980's, when the opposition to the socialist politics of Tanzania grew and liberalization started.

Under internal Moslem pressure and international Islamic tendencies BAKWATA has lately become somewhat more profiled. The organization has arranged lectures on Islam in different parts of the country and in 1987 it called on the government to reinstall the system of Moslem courts that existed in colonial and post-colonial times. With the increased profile international Islamic contacts are on the rise. Some Arab countries have financed new mosques, schools, scholarships, dispensaries and provided teachers to the newly established schools.

The question of schools and Islamic education has for a long time been Tanzanian Moslems' main issue. They had few equivalents to the mission schools whose activities not only spread Christianity but also led to a higher educational level among Christians. The decision by the TANU government to nationalize the schools in 1969 was therefore warmly welcomed by the Moslems. The Islamic schools which have been founded lately in a political climate more favorable to private initiatives, for example Kunduchi Islamic High School, seem to have an uneven standard but constitute an interesting development for the Moslems of Tanzania.

The proposal to reinstate separate Moslem courts is very controversial. Under the slogan "Don't mix religion with politics!" the governments of Tanzania have endeavored to "privatize" Islam or marginalize the effects of Islamic law. An example of religious conflicts involving legal matters is the discussions about a government proposal to a new marriage law which was presented in 1967. The implementation of the law in 1971 was preceded by two years of intense discussions particularly regarding the position of sharia in the judicial system of the country were debated.

Before 1971 Moslems, as well as Christians and Hindus, followed their own marriage and divorce laws. Traditional judiciary systems of the different ethnic groups practising customary law were also in force. In addition, one could marry monogamously in a civil marriage. To counteract religious and ethnic exclusivism in favour of increased national consciousness, the government presented its aim in its 1969 White Book to create more uniformity in the sphere of family laws. The other important aim was to improve the position of the woman. One of the tangible proposals was that the minimum marital age for boys was to be eighteen and for girls fifteen. The fifteen-year limit for girls was presented with reference to UN recommendations. According to sharia puberty decides when a girl is marriageable.

The proposal that caused the most serious debate was the idea that a man who wanted to marry a second wife had to get permission from his first wife. The proposal that would forbid men to punish their wives corporally was also met with some resistance as well as the installation of an obligatory reconciliation agency for couples on the verge of divorce. If the agency failed to reconcile the parties concerned the husband in a Moslem marriage would legally be able to pronounce the divorce formula talaka (Ar. talaq).

Many Moslems who were taking part in the discussions opposed the idea of creating a more unified marriage law, especially where the proposed marriage law was in conflict with sharia. Since family laws are a central part of the Islamic law, any change which does not conform to them is particularly sensitive and controversial. Despite the criticism from the Moslems the government's proposed law was passed in 1971 with only minor changes.

The proposals of BAKWATA in 1987 to reinstate separate Islamic courts is only one example which demonstrates that the question of the position of sharia in Tanzania is still a burning issue. In 1988 Sofia Kawawa, leader of the Tanzania Women's Union, UWT, (Umoja wa Wanawake wa Tanzania, closely affiliated to CCM), came under fire after having publicly criticized Islamic rules that she felt were oppressive to women. According to Sofia Kawawa polygyny should be forbidden and women should have the same right of inheritance as men. Her statements caused protest and some riots. A group of young Moslems wrote an open letter which demanded that the secular regime refrain from interfering with religious matters. In Zanzibar two men died in the riots against the leader of the UWT. The Moslem president Ali Hassan Mwinyi, who a few years earlier had succeeded the Catholic Nyerere, hurried to explain that Kawawa had expressed her personal views and not the views of CCM or the government. Mwinyi saw no need to change the law, while Kawawa and other Moslem women continued to argue against certain Islamic laws. In some of her statements in 1990 Kawawa provocatively claimed that polygyny helped to spread AIDS.

In questions concerning for example polygyny, Moslem critics like Kawawa have gained some support from the Christian quarter. Christian criticism is, to some degree however, part of a wider propaganda campaign against Islam. It may be noted that many Christian men, especially outside the circles of leadership, actually have defended polygyny, albeit with reference to traditional African culture rather than to Christian belief. This was especially obvious during the parliamentary debates preceding the law changes in 1971. Many Christian men and women also support female circumcision which is practised rather widely, even by fourth or fifth generation Christians, and which is forbidden in law; but nobody talks about it. Female circumcision does not exist among Tanzanian Moslems other than those of Somali origin, and a mild form of it is secretly practised among the few Asian Shia Bohra.

The relationship between Moslems and Christians has by and large been harmonious in Tanzania. A certain tension has certainly existed under the surface, but it has seldom led to open conflict. In his valedictory address in 1985, Nyerere stressed the fact that the risk of religious conflict in Tanzania has been greater than ethnic strife. According to him large religious conflicts have been avoided not least because most Moslems have set national interests ahead of religious concerns. Lately however a tendency toward increasing conflict between Moslems and Christians has been discerned in Tanzania. One of the reasons for this is growing Christian fundamentalism. To many fundamentalist Christians Islam is considered the archenemy, particularly since Communism is no longer perceived as a threat.

New organizations and tendencies
New Islamic organizations have also added to the increased polarization between Christians and Moslems. Few of these organizations are officially registered. More rigid Islamic groups spreading propaganda for the surrection of an Islamic government in Tanzania are few and small, but less far-reaching signs of revitalization of Islam are evident. Zanzibar constitutes a special problem with its deeply rooted Islam and some Moslems who emphasize the importance of Islam want to see the Union dissolved. This is also desired by the Christian fundamentalists, particularly the unregistered Democratic Party led by the Rev. Mtikila.

One of the Islamic congregations which more or less openly has criticized the "official" BAKWATA is Warsha ya Waandishi wa Kiislam (Islamic Writers' Workshop). Warsha was founded in 1975 as a unit within BAKWATA, its main concern being educational issues. The unit had many young and well-educated members, some of whom were Shiites. This radical group was supported by the BAKWATA secreterary general sheikh Muhammed Ali and demanded Islamic education alongside secular subjects in the Islamic secondary schools run by the organization. Moslems faithful to the regime argued that this went against the secular foundation of the state and after some conflict the Warsha group was excluded from BAKWATA in 1982 and its members were forbidden to work at BAKWATA institutions.

The young Warsha members have however continued striving for their goal. In their simple headquarters at Daressalaam's Quba mosque, courses are arranged and literature is published. One of the Swahili publications, Uchumi Katika Uislamu (Economy In Islam), which deals with Islamic economy, has drawn attention due to its severe criticism of the Tanzanian socialist system Ujamaa, which they consider Communist. Most of the publications however deal with the so called Pillars of Islam, for example Sala with the horary prayer and Falsafa ya Funga ya Ramdhani with fasting during Ramadan. Warsha also tries to reform the old and mosque based Quranic schools where education is still largely based on memorizing parts of the Quran.

Another organization is Baraza la Uendelazaji Koran Tanzania (Tanzania Quranic Council), BALUKTA, whose 1987 constitution states that its main aim is promoting the reading of the Quran and spreading of Islam through financial and material support to Moslem schools. The organization is also making an effort to establish and run Islamic centers and institutes for Islamic higher education. Other constitutional aims within the educational field are among others publishing and conferences. Business projects like hotels and restaurants have also been announced. Holders of positions of trust are expected to have a sound knowledge of Islam. Compared to Warsha, characterized by its young members, BALUKTA seems somewhat old-fashioned. In April 1993 some BALUKTA members under the leadership of its president, sheikh Yahya Hussein, were involved in attacks against butcheries selling pork in Daressalaam. Three slaughterhouses were destroyed and some thirty people, including sheikh Hussein, were arrested. The background to this is that rearing and slaughtering of pigs have become common in religiously mixed areas and some Moslems have reacted vehemently.

The Daressalaam University Muslim Trusteeship is another organization striving to protect Moslem interests in higher education; it has produced statistics which point to the much publicised under-representation of Moslems at the universities and in the administration. (A parliamentary commission of inquiery has also come to a similar conclusion, followed by a report of the Roman Catholic Church of Tanzania in 1992 which confirms the political and educational imbalance between Christians and Moslems. A book in 1994 by Aboud Jumbe, a former president of Zanzibar, further describes the dominance of the Christians and the underprivileged position of the Moslems in the country.) The members of the Trusteeship try to promote a better understanding of Islam as a way of life. Another organization, Baraza Kuu la Jumuia na Taasisi za Kiislam (The Supreme Council of Islamic Organizations), founded in 1992, has a strikingly large number of university employees among its membership. This new council tries to take over the leading role of BAKWATA as a unified organization for all the Moslems of the country, and its activities are closely monitored by the government.

Islamic renewal in Tanzania has been supported by organizations abroad. The World Council of Mosques, with its headquarters in Jeddah, has opened an office in Daressalaam to facilitate its work in Tanzania. Some foreign organizations have supported minor domestic Islamic movements which aim to change the country into an Islamic state. The Iranian Revolution has inspired some Tanzanian Moslems, among others Khamis Muhammed, who is the editor of the new Islamic magazine Mizani. In a 1990 interview he said that the Islamic Revolution should be followed by all Moslems in the world. Khamis Muhammed has also been influenced by, and has written about, Wahhabism.

Embassies of some Islamic countries have in different ways tried to support the radicalization of the Moslem forces in Tanzania. Some Moslem heads of state have also supported the Moslem aspirations. Through the embassies, means have been provided for the building or renovation of several mosques, Moslem secondary schools, hospitals and clinics. Favorable loans have been given through these channels to Moslems engaged in commercial activities. But the activities of the embassies has caused divisions among Moslem groupings in the country.

In connection with a visit by the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury in 1993, president Mwinyi, adhering to the secular stance towards religious issues of his predecessor Nyerere, complained about some extremely religious individuals abusing freedom of speech to create chaos in the country. Archbishop Carey talked about the fundamentalist threat. Zanzibar's becoming a member of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) was heavily criticized by Christian leaders, who argued that this contravened the secular constitution of Tanzania. The sharp criticism and the risk of a dissolution of the Union resulted in the Zanzibari government decision to leave OIC.

On some occasions, as in connection with the government crisis in Zanzibar in 1988 ( the year when the demonstrations against Sofia Kawawa took place ( Mwinyi and other representatives of the regime have pointed to Moslem groups in Zanzibar and in exile who, despite the great autonomy of the island state, are disputing the Union. One of the controversial groups is the Pemba based Bismillahi who want a referendum on the Union between Zanzibar and Mainland Tanzania. A visitor to Zanzibar soon realizes that Islam is not only a private matter, although the authorities nowadays are less concerned with for example public eating and drinking during Ramadan, which have become more common because of the influx of tourists and Westerners.

For many years organs critical of the regime, among others Warsha and the magazine Mizani, issued propaganda for a multi-party system. When Tanzania in 1992 introduced multi-partyism it was understood that all parties should have a national profile and that religion and ethnicity must not constitute the base for new parties. Especially Moslems were warned not to use the multi-party system for religious purposes. Besides the usually limited political demands, Moslem revival in Tanzania, as in other parts of Africa, has been noticeable in the growing number of mosque goers and that Islamic style clothing has become more popular. In the propaganda activities some Christian influences are descernible. Public Moslem sermons are being held in streets and squares. The practice of inviting foreign "revivalists", spreading tracts and pamphlets, as well as putting stickers on vehicles and distributing cassettes and videos has become more common among Moslems.

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